Caltrops - MMORPG Level Treadmill





	[quote name="Creexul :("]<font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (7:32:27 PM): So did you reroll those characters OR WHAT? <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:33:06 PM): No, I haven't seen kered in 2 days. :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:38:40 PM): Did I mention I've come up with an infinitely better MMO while playing all that WOW? <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:38:58 PM): Because they always say WELL INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING WHY DON'T YOU MAKE SOMETHING BETTER <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (7:39:36 PM): That's what they say! <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (7:40:02 PM): World of Fairycraft? <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:43:34 PM): No. :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:43:42 PM): SINCE WE KNOW EACH OTHER I WILL LET YOU IN ON IT ~_~ <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:43:53 PM): A Half-Life 2 MMO. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:44:18 PM): http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2001/01/30 He doesn't care about Half-Life, he just wants to play <b><i>Front Line Force</i></b>. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:44:26 PM): Very in touch with the world of gaming. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (7:45:22 PM): So you're idea is to take another game that's good, and make an MMO. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (7:45:28 PM): you're = your <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:45:40 PM): No. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:45:44 PM): Make it a <b>good</b> MMO. O_O <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:46:10 PM): As in the kind of MMO no one has ever THOUGHT OF BEFORE o__________o <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (7:46:23 PM): What the hell is Front Line Force? <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:46:34 PM): A Half-Life 1 mod. :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:46:53 PM): It was like a more objectives based sort of Counter-Strike/Firearms. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:47:18 PM): It was cool for 10 minutes until games were ground to a halt by people grenade spamming the objective points. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:47:43 PM): And their shooting code was probably the worst in HL1 mod history. :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:47:59 PM): Literally every bullet you'd fire would be swallowed up even at point blank range. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (7:48:09 PM): I think the hard part of MMORPGs is the implementation. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (7:48:16 PM): Because it's like... a lot of work. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:49:18 PM): Yeah. :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:49:26 PM): I didn't think of a genius way around that unfortunately. ~_~ <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:49:29 PM): BUT. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:49:43 PM): I have thought of a game that would be 5 times more fun than World of Wowcraft and probably take half the work. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:50:46 PM): You know how in MMOs they want you to go to this and this area and kill 15 blurf wolfs or 20 grog'thar bears or whatever, TO THIN THEIR POPULATION AND MAKE THE AREA SAFER. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:50:54 PM): Of course you do that and it never really affects the area, ever. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:51:06 PM): Because it would screw up the game for other players naturally so I can understand that. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:51:28 PM): But I've figured out a way that MMOs could have zones where enemies do thin out and eventually are cleared entirely. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:51:53 PM): And even have your friendly faction start moving in to the new safe zone and put up buildings and shit there. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:52:36 PM): All you do is give the game a beginning and end, so when the server gets to the end of the game it goes back to the beginning. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:52:52 PM): You could give the MMO an overall storyline with a conclusion. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (7:52:55 PM): Yeah, that is nice, but I think the problem is that the newly cleared AREA is on server 838c2, which isn't able to handle the load of spawning and markets or whatever... <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:53:03 PM): And gamers would have a real impact on the game world. O_O <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:53:22 PM): All MMOs can handle that. :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:54:01 PM): That stuff is easy. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (7:54:18 PM): No, I mean they distribute the loads across different types of servers, and would probably come up with an excuses as to why that would be difficult. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (7:54:21 PM): MMORPGs make a lot of excuses for every complaint, is all I'm saying. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (7:54:35 PM): But I believe them, that it seems hard. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (7:55:06 PM): But I also agree, everyone should forget about quests already and start making a big epic world that needs to be conquered. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:56:14 PM): Well they have seperate servers but also seperate realms. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (7:56:29 PM): If it was that big of a problem for a first person shooter MMO you could just make the realm size smaller. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (7:57:03 PM): One server, like "The Fraggle'tham PVP server" isn't actually just one physical server. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (7:57:11 PM): It's actually a server farm. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (7:57:16 PM): BUT ANYWAYZ <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (7:58:52 PM): I'd love a HL2 MMORPG or Far Cry... There's an island with phat loot, and you hop in a raft with some other dudes and clear it out. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (7:59:15 PM): And then another team comes over to raid the island -- but you guys are already there, and you fucking THROW DOWN. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:00:26 PM): Or perhaps the competitng team arrives early, and an exciting 3-way shootout errupts! <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:00:44 PM): Actually there wouldn't be any other teams. :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:00:48 PM): Not yet anyway. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:01:01 PM): Who would there be? <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:01:16 PM): There would be you on the human side, and then you'd be up against all the HL2 monsters. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:01:41 PM): And there would be no party system, you automatically share xp with anyone in the general area who is fighting. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:01:50 PM): And you progress through the game by clearing areas and fighting. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:02:11 PM): I should eat first then try to describe this MMO. :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:02:19 PM): Which would change games <b>forever</b>. ~_~ <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:02:56 PM): Well that's what I meant about teams, just a loose group of the three guys who shared the raft over to the island. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:03:07 PM): Not like a fag guild or clan or something. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:03:18 PM): I guess I mean like BF2 squads. :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:03:37 PM): I meant there would be no grouping based on people picking other people. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:04:32 PM): So I never get to fight other players ever/ <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:04:35 PM): ? <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:04:46 PM): Well I don't have any of those ideas thought up yet. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:04:58 PM): I figured you could fight other players in an arena setting maybe. :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:05:08 PM): But it would have to be simulated even in the game world. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:05:27 PM): Which ended up seeming totally pointless. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:05:32 PM): Yeah fuck that. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:05:41 PM): I guess I'll have to get used to just not killing people. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:05:52 PM): But if you can slip that in, do it <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:06:08 PM): The idea of the last survivors of the human race having paintball games or attacking each other ended up being the dumbest thing possible. :( <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:06:14 PM): yes <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:06:30 PM): HL2 DM makes no sense <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:06:48 PM): They're killing each other man!!!!!!!!!!!! <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:07:34 PM): MMOs are all based on fighting NPCs anyway. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:07:46 PM): Sometimes they include PVP combat or whatever. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:07:56 PM): That's if there's two seperate sides. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:08:16 PM): In my idea there would only be one winner in the actual game and that would have to be the humans. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:08:30 PM): So if combine was a playable faction, they'd have to lose. :( <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:09:00 PM): Just because MMOs are mostly about NPC fighting doesn't mean yours has to be. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:09:14 PM): Don't be afraid to shake things up for some sort of new something... <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:09:18 PM): :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:09:35 PM): That's what the idea is without any PVP combat already. :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:10:05 PM): Actually it's hard to remember what parts I told you about and what I didn't. :( <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:10:18 PM): Long ago when reading about WW2 Online they described the awesome system of battles where you'd basically fight some battle of WW2 for like a month. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:10:30 PM): And then one side would win, and the battle would start over. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:10:47 PM): Yeah that's not an MMO though. :( <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:10:56 PM): I think it was! <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:10:57 PM): I mean it is. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:11:01 PM): But it's not an MMORPG. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:11:11 PM): I'm talking about a HL2 RPG. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:11:11 PM): Right, but think about that concept while you eat. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:11:35 PM): But I mean WW2 Online was entirely PVP. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:11:41 PM): Because what happens when you beat the combine? <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:11:43 PM): So it was more like Battlefield 2. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:11:56 PM): Do you just relax then? <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:11:58 PM): Actually I was thinking the final enemy would be a giant alien. :( <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:12:24 PM): But if it's MMO, and the enemies stay dead, then the game has to "reset" or something. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:12:33 PM): There would probably be one day where the game is considered "complete" and all the NPCs celebrate, then it tells players about the time of the reset and does it. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:12:38 PM): Yeah. :( <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:12:50 PM): Ok then <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:12:52 PM): I should probably just write this down first. :( <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:12:59 PM): Take your time! <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:13:09 PM): I told Toom and Kered about this for like an hour. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:32:30 PM): I'm back. :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:43:22 PM): Anyway about the game. :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:43:55 PM): Where do I start. :( <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:44:01 PM): You should calmly group your thoughts together into a post. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:44:06 PM): Or is it too top secret? <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:44:10 PM): But what if someone steals my ideas. ;-; <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:44:23 PM): I should group them to tell you, and then if they aren't that good I should post them. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:44:28 PM): Then you'll never get credit for the HL2MMORPG <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:44:40 PM): Ok that's a good plan <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:45:35 PM): If they aren't that good I post the log I mean. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:46:43 PM): I hear you. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:47:01 PM): I forgot a paper I need at the office, so I won't be back for 30 minutes. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:47:16 PM): So I should just type at you for 30 minutes. :( <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:47:18 PM): My silence is not lack of interest! <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:47:23 PM): You'll have something to read when you get back. ^_^ <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (8:47:28 PM): It's 2006: GO <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:47:32 PM): HERE WE GO <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:48:58 PM): To start with it's a first person shooting MMORPG in the Half-Life 2 universe, but instead of the game world being one eternal string of quests from level 1 to the level cap, the game world will change as the players play it. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:49:47 PM): What will happen is the players fight in areas, and as more enemies are killed, the area begins to thin of these enemies until it's cleared. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:50:09 PM): When the area is cleared, it becomes neutral or friendly and possibly a staging point for the next zones which will need to be cleared. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:51:34 PM): It'll start with basic shooting (and perhaps gathering) headcrabs, maybe finding a secret cave with a headcrab nest and big momma headcrab spawner (or 50), and as more of the enemies in the area are killed the map will show a percentage for how many more enemies would have to be killed for the area to clear. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:52:00 PM): Then the next areas are opened up where there will be harder enemies and stuff, different objectives. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:52:55 PM): Like say a giant multiple square mile valley of ruined city rubble populated by hundreds of small combine bunkers that you and other players have to storm and plant explosives in. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:53:24 PM): The map would show the locations of all the bunkers and if they are destroyed or still up. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:54:26 PM): There could be an area of giant warehouses that are being used as bases for enemies or any kind, there could be a zone of many apartment complexes housing tons of combine soldiers that have to be cleared floor by floor, as an instance. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:55:09 PM): As the game progresses in this server, it would have its own percentage meter to show how far in the game it is, so new players would be encouraged to join a server that is earlier off in the game. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:55:28 PM): But a new player could join any server if they want. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:55:55 PM): I came up with most of these ideas to counter a lot of the shittier ways MMOs work. :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:56:14 PM): In most MMOs, you can only fight 1 single enemy at a time, and only at or very near to your own level. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:56:39 PM): If you take on more than one enemy at a time, unless you pull out all the stops and use all your emergency items, you are dead. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:57:54 PM): In this game, instead of fighting single enemies requiring a minute of non stop fighting followed by a minute of sitting down and eating a food item from your inventory, you'd fight multiple enemies that would take the same amount of damage as in HL2. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (8:59:19 PM): Another thing in most MMOs is that they pad the game out by having you walk huge distances here or there, or going back and forth long distances to talk to NPCs or quest in zones, or fetch quests where they want 10 of some item, but it only drops every 5 or 10 enemies killed. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:00:12 PM): I think they do that so you have to play for longer and longer to get anything done so that you don't quit after a month. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:00:52 PM): For this HL2 MMO, in order to get from beginning to end on a server it would ideally take 2 or 3 months (as long as everyone keeps playing). <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:01:43 PM): In the third person MMORPGs they have, all the grinding or constant enemy fighting for quests or money or whatever or just walking through an area, it's boring to watch because it's just watching your dude swing his arm vs an enemy swinging their arms. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:02:16 PM): In the HL2MMO I think even plain grinding would be a billion times better because it would be first person blasting with a possibility of ragdolls. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:02:46 PM): And the biggest bummer in MMOs is that the world never changes, unless the developers do world events. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:02:59 PM): In World of Warcraft they have one to open a gate to a 40 man raid instance. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:03:32 PM): In order to open it, the players have to make literally millions of items to give to certain NPCs in the main cities. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:03:52 PM): Then they get some random drop item to hit a gong and fight a giant boss or something. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:04:40 PM): If you aren't in a guild of 50 or more people, chances are you'll never even get to do shit like this because the big guilds all want to do it themselves, and most public players are dumb and would fuck up some of the sensitive dangerous areas of stuff like the end game instances (dungeons). <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:05:36 PM): Plus they make a lot of ridiculous surprises in those things like they'll have you walk over a tiny bridge, and then throw enemies at you that can force push you off the side instantly, and once that happens the entire dungeon is basically shot and you have to give up. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:05:43 PM): This is after like 1 or 2 hours. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:06:22 PM): The only way to learn anything about it is either have other players telegraph the dungeon for you (which won't work for all the Chinese gold farmers or people who just don't pay attention) or to screw it up yourself the first time. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:06:56 PM): My solution is make every part of the game playable with only one person. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:07:30 PM): That doesn't mean just one person could play a server by themselves from beginning to end and hopefully no one would ever do that because that would be really sad. :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:08:07 PM): But make it so if someone wants to just play by themselves, they don't have to find a group of like 1 healer, 1 heavy hitter, 1 crazy stealth guy, blah blah blah and then get them all together and HOPE one of them doesn't ruin it for everyone else. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:08:16 PM): That's why there would be no party system. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:09:08 PM): There would be guilds (not called guilds of course) if you want to be with friends, but basically everyone within the vicinity of each other in a combat zone would share experience points and medic calls or whatever. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:09:25 PM): So that there would still be an incentive for people to play together. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:09:50 PM): But also make it possible for a guy to play alone, without leeching XP from others or being a liability. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:10:05 PM): Also it makes a sniper class a better possibility because you could add tons of sniper perches for these combat zones. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:11:22 PM): There would be no stealth either by the way. You could avoid combat, and say in bunker alley if everyone cleared the bunkers up the east side you could go around the entire middle without the enemies in all the middle bunkers coming out and wiping you out. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:18:53 PM): Although it wouldn't matter because it would still require you to clear a whole area, not just get through it. :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:20:45 PM): But as you go on the areas would become cleared, and some areas might just close off, or be totally free of enemies (and therefore easier to farm salvage electronics or whatever profession type things we make up) and perhaps friendlies would advance to that area and set up shops, perhaps you could even see buildings like guard towers being made as the game progresses, like one day you'd see a frame of a guard tower, and then a ladder put up the side the next day, and then the top of the tower being constructed, and maybe a force field would be put in place on the last day with a mounted machine gun, then an NPC would man it. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:20:51 PM): Just little things like that. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:21:23 PM): Also possible zones that would require friendly fortifications that need defending from enemies charging it, or a hydrogen conversion plant on a beach that needs protection as it's being built. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:22:01 PM): A defense scenario would work <b>I suppose</b> by having the friendly NPCs being able to fend off enemies, but the area would nto become any more cleared unless actual players were in the area fighting enemies themselves. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:22:58 PM): Since the game would work as a continuing constant changing world, you could have a storyline with an actual beginning and end too, with plot changes and possible twists (although that wouldn't be entirely necessary). <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:23:36 PM): I think that would be awesome to play in a server where the game world actually would change as you play it. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:24:17 PM): Another thing is that new players could join a game in any amount of progress, even if it would be more ideal for them to start at the beginning. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:24:25 PM): Sometimes it would be better if they got into a server that was about to end. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:24:46 PM): I haven't entirely figured out what would happen to characters that have been through the whole game when the server resets. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:25:10 PM): I think that they should be able to keep a few special items or equipment or something, or get some kind of bonus based on how much they played. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:25:15 PM): But their levels would reset. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:25:34 PM): The thing that wouldn't matter is that your max HP would never go up no matter what level you're on, it would just always be 1 to 100. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:25:55 PM): Your levels would instead determine the kind of armor you can wear and how likely you are to absorb or avoid damage. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:26:30 PM): Because it's a first person shooter, your actual movement would be the biggest determining factor of course, but there could still be crit chance rolls and dodge rolls based on a few agility stats. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:26:36 PM): Since it is an RPG. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:28:58 PM): But with more explosions and shit of course. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:29:27 PM): There would be lots of shooting enemies, but also the missions would require enemy buildings and fortifications destroyed. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:29:41 PM): Maybe some other stock FPS missions like "capture the documents" or whatever. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:30:06 PM): And mission required armory runs, which every player would want to get the best new LEWT and weapons and shit. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:30:48 PM): You'd have to have multiples of everything in the game though, because since they could be cleared, you'd need several of something (enemies, bunkers, treasure) so all players would get a chance to get in on it. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:30:52 PM): Even the casual players. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:31:34 PM): The hardcore gamers could play the bunkers for as long as they want, but a casual gamer could ideally just jump in, even at level 1, and go to the bunkers (which could be say a level 30 area) and be able to fight. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:31:50 PM): They wouldn't be able to do as much damage or take as much damage, but they could still do something. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:32:24 PM): Also the later level areas would net more XP even for a guy at level 1, because if someone was joining then, the game would be catching them up. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:32:32 PM): As long as it was on a sliding scale or curve or whatever. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:33:18 PM): So if the level 1 guy would fight in a level 30 area, and if they would be around other players they could be safer, net a bunch of XP which would get them closer and closer to that level 30 until they were properly caught up. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:33:54 PM): And once the players got to that level 30 in the level 30 area, they wouldn't really get enough XP to crank all the way past level 50 or something crazy just from playing 20 hours a day. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:34:01 PM): So the players would be kept in balance. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:35:29 PM): I know in some MMOs, some (fags) play for like a year or forever. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:35:36 PM): I wouldn't be shooting for that in this HL2 thing. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:35:52 PM): A player could play all the way through once or twice, maybe three times, and four times if they really really really loved the game. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:36:04 PM): Ideally, a minimum of 2 months. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:36:18 PM): Not 2 months straight of several hours per day playing like most MMOs though. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:37:10 PM): <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (10:59:55 PM): Apartment building mission. :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:00:00 PM): Clear 30 floors of combine. O_O <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:00:40 PM): In one of several apartment buildings. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:00:54 PM): An apartment building instance. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:01:04 PM): Floor 1 is a makeshift aid station and ammo bank. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:01:34 PM): Snipers have a seperate portal to the instance, in another building a block away to sniper combine right through the windows. <font color="#006432"><b>Toomstone</b></font> (11:02:36 PM): where's the threat to snipers? <font color="#006432"><b>Toomstone</b></font> (11:02:44 PM): if they're just gonna sit there and snipe? <font color="#006432"><b>Toomstone</b></font> (11:02:49 PM): or is this a raid instance? <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:02:50 PM): Yes. ~_~ <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:03:01 PM): Actually the threat could be countersniper combines. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:03:49 PM): It would be an instance where like 50 people would go in and all share xp. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:03:53 PM): No partying up required or nothin. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:04:05 PM): If one is full you find another one that has spaces. ^_^ <font color="#006432"><b>Toomstone</b></font> (11:04:14 PM): that does sound like a good idea <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:04:21 PM): And that is just one zone. O_O <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:04:36 PM): The map would show the percent completed, like floor by floor. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:04:48 PM): And of course once it's cleared, the enemies don't just repopulate, they stay gone. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:05:19 PM): And then when the building is clear it becomes friendly territory. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:05:27 PM): Although really it would just close off. :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:37:35 PM): <font color="#006432"><b>Toomstone</b></font> (11:05:44 PM): :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:05:50 PM): Since it would be empty. <font color="#006432"><b>Toomstone</b></font> (11:05:52 PM): what about <font color="#006432"><b>Toomstone</b></font> (11:05:55 PM): another instance <font color="#006432"><b>Toomstone</b></font> (11:06:00 PM): where you have to hold the building <font color="#006432"><b>Toomstone</b></font> (11:06:05 PM): against combine assault <font color="#006432"><b>Toomstone</b></font> (11:06:21 PM): headcrab canisters mortared in <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:06:25 PM): O_____O <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:06:36 PM): I was thinking about how a defense scenario would work in an MMO. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:06:42 PM): That is a little trickier. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:06:50 PM): Because say only 1 person was in there. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:06:55 PM): Or 0. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:06:59 PM): Would it mean the combine wins? ;-; <font color="#006432"><b>Toomstone</b></font> (11:07:20 PM): you've got your hand on a dead man's switch <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:37:44 PM): <font color="#006432"><b>Toomstone</b></font> (11:07:27 PM): you die, it wipes the building of all life <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:07:37 PM): Actually I was thinking of some defense ideas like you defend this or that area at the beginning of a chapter, so once it starts, everyone in the server would have to be on defense in the starting zone. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:07:44 PM): Hahaha. :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:07:50 PM): Terminator 2 style. 8) <font color="#006432"><b>Toomstone</b></font> (11:07:57 PM): 8) <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:08:39 PM): Also I was thinking of areas where you'd have to be on defense to protect some beachfront hydrogen conversion generators or whatever. <font color="#006432"><b>Toomstone</b></font> (11:09:25 PM): what happens if you fail? <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:09:30 PM): All the busted up car chassis you saw in HL2 become retrofitted with little hydrogen engines for driving. ^_^ <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:09:37 PM): Well there's a way to make it so you can't fail. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:37:53 PM): <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:10:05 PM): Like having NPC guards in safe areas where they could machine gun guys coming to the last line of defense there. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:10:22 PM): But any kills they'd get wouldn't count towards the completion meter. <font color="#006432"><b>Toomstone</b></font> (11:10:26 PM): ahh <font color="#006432"><b>Toomstone</b></font> (11:10:28 PM): that's good! <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:10:34 PM): In order to progress in that area or zone or part of the chapter actual players would have to go in and fight. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:10:51 PM): It also means that one single player could be in the zone alone but still have a chance to get something done. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:11:01 PM): Failing shouldn't be possible because it means the game would be lost or something. :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:11:10 PM): And the server would have to reset or something. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:11:33 PM): Say everyone went for dinner or went to bed for the night and while everyone slept the NPCs fought it out and the bad guys won. :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:11:49 PM): Then everyone would wake up and be like "okay I'll go play this game" and surprise everything's fucked up. :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:11:53 PM): That can't happen. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:12:03 PM): Although it would be pretty funny. 8) <font color="#006432"><b>Toomstone</b></font> (11:12:37 PM): hahah <font color="#006432"><b>Toomstone</b></font> (11:12:46 PM): to the people who own the servers, yeah <font color="#006432"><b>Toomstone</b></font> (11:12:51 PM): to the people paying to pay <font color="#006432"><b>Toomstone</b></font> (11:12:54 PM): not so much <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:38:01 PM): <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:13:17 PM): But anyway the world events would have to be triggered by player interaction, so any defense or anything would have to be set so nothing changes until players interact, and there can't be any losses in the situations, only an amount of clearing. :( <font color="#006432"><b>Toomstone</b></font> (11:13:45 PM): that makes sense <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:13:46 PM): I actually thought a lot about how this game would work. :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (11:13:54 PM): Like the death system and reloading system and friendly fire. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:38:39 PM): Hm that log ends there. ~_~ <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:38:55 PM): The reloading system would be basically the same as that fairy forest game I thought of. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:39:17 PM): Where you'd have like 5 clips for a gun, once you empty them all you have to load them up with bullets. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:39:26 PM): Either from a bank or a carryable ammo pouch. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:39:52 PM): You'd be able to walk around in a town buying things and talking to NPCs or whatever while loading your magazines up of course, it would just take you out of the fight for a little bit. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:39:58 PM): But not too long because you don't want to bore the player. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:40:45 PM): And as you level you get to carry more magazines and possibly at level 50 or whatever you can get drum clips or guns that take drum clips, or the assault class gets drum clips. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:41:55 PM): Also I thought of some special boss monster enemies that would be like big aliens with super heavy armor which would require a heavy hitter class like grenade launchers or a slugthrower class with weapons that fire single shot giant slugs for punching through armor. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:42:12 PM): And these guys could hit the armor dudes anywhere, but for the rest of the players they'd have to aim for a weak spot like the eyes or something. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:43:55 PM): Every class would have their pistol or a small SMG though for backup, like for fighting the headcrabs or combine. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:47:05 PM): The medic class would primarily use shotguns. O_O <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:47:28 PM): And they'd have a medkit, and an alternate dart gun that fires healing darts (for less healing but at range). <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:48:20 PM): Also I thought for "professions" like in normal MMOs would be blacksmithing or whatever, in this would mostly be gathering salvage in a few classes, like electronics, scrap metal, weapon parts. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:49:31 PM): And instead of requiring the player to create these parts, you just cash them in at a town NPC, and when they get enough they can make the weapon or equipment, or say to make a guard tower in the friendly town or a defense point they'd require electronics salvage to put together force fields and beams, and when they got enough the tower would start being built and that could go towards the completion meter. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:49:50 PM): And this salvage could just be found in junk piles or on enemies. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:50:46 PM): And when you're going to pick your profession or class, it would tell the percentage of other players who have that class, so if there's a class or profession that less players are using there would be an incentive to choose those over the others. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:51:04 PM): Maybe add experience or money incentives. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:51:20 PM): But if there are less electronics salvagers, clearly the incentive is that you'd have more of that loot to yourself. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:51:30 PM): It would help players decide on the balance. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:52:33 PM): And on a server reset you could probably change your class, so if players would keep any items or whatever on a server reset, it wouldn't be class specific stuff like a sniper rifle which would be worthless if you wanted to go medic after a reset. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:53:11 PM): It would be something like money or some good armor pieces. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:53:33 PM): Or something that wouldn't require level 50 or 100 or whatever the cap will be. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:56:13 PM): The game story overall would be seperated by chapters, so in the beginning you'd have chapter 1 where you go out and clear a nearby field of headcrabs, but with a blocked off cave at that field, and when the field is cleared the town leader would be like "we think this cave is a headcrab nest" and they'd schedule to players when it is to be blown open so you could go watch it and go in as soon as it's open, then you do clearing of that along with some boss monsters. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:56:26 PM): That would be like chapter 1 part 2 or something. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:56:54 PM): Then part 3 would move on to another area of headcrabs, poison headcrabs, breeding grounds, some bosses. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:57:43 PM): Near the end of the chapter there could be like a crazy poison headcrab boss or something, or maybe a sudden combine battle zone. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:58:18 PM): Then it would start the next chapter, which could either close off the old area or make it defunct and move the main friendly town up to another zone closer to the new battle zones. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:58:54 PM): The old area could possibly stay open for lower level salvage farming, just in case they say some lower level equipment is needed for this or that. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (9:59:33 PM): Like the armory dude would be like oh I can make this new medic class shotgun or upgrade for such and such weapon but it takes X amount of this and this and that, which players would have to turn in. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (10:00:33 PM): Instead of waiting for giant single shot world events in an MMO, this would be a string of constant world events. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (10:01:29 PM): And the scale of these world events would move up ideally so that you'd be taking out bigger enemies or buildings or enemy compounds. <font color="#a74b5e"><b>Fussbett</b></font> (10:01:34 PM): Holy shit that's a lot of text! <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (10:01:39 PM): Yeah. :( <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (10:01:44 PM): I was trying to think of everything. ~_~ <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (10:01:55 PM): I didn't even cover my idea for the friendly fire system. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (10:03:06 PM): Or how perhaps halfway through the game there could be a crazy world event where it's like WE SUSPECT THEY ARE GOING TO TRY TO DESTROY OUR TOWN and the game NPCs set up to evacuate, and everyone tries to run to a new zone as a full scale assault comes in as the entire friendly faction tries to evacuate. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (10:03:12 PM): Like a crazy plot twist event. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (10:03:37 PM): And the old zone would be destroyed and/or overrun with strong headcrabs while your guys have to try to rebuild in a new home area. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (10:04:46 PM): Aside from the friendly fire system I've gone over all the vital stuff I guess, besides possible final end game bosses and the endgame celebration day, and how all the chapter changes and end game moments will be put up on schedules for all players, plus the map system and training systems and blah balh. <font color="#aeb5ff"><b>Juh-howh Cable</b></font> (10:04:52 PM): So I can stop there. :([/quote]